


one mystery can teach you how to swim

by endinflames, leonardo e suas fics ruins (endinflames)



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: & STANDS FOR PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP NOT ROMANTIC, / IS FOR ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS OK ???? OK, Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe AU, Ficlet, First Meetings, Gen, Keith doesn’t know how to swim, M/M, Mentions of Body Dysphoria, Non-Binary Lance (Voltron), Trans Keith (Voltron), Trans Lance (Voltron), Trans Male Keith (Voltron), Trans Male Shiro (Voltron), Trans Shiro (Voltron), ari!keith, aridante - Freeform, aridante au, dante!lance, keith is a little bit dysphoric but its nothing too impacting, klance, klance as aridante, mentions of death/murder, nothing graphic tho, shiro’s dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21763213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endinflames/pseuds/endinflames, https://archiveofourown.org/users/endinflames/pseuds/leonardo%20e%20suas%20fics%20ruins
Summary: Keith was fifteen.He was bored.He was miserable.Until he heard the voice, kind of squeaky. “I can teach you how to swim.”((inspired by aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire saenz))
Relationships: Adam & Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Adam & Keith (Voltron), Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Aristotle Mendoza & Dante Quintana, Keith & Lance (Voltron), Lance & Plaxum (Voltron)
Kudos: 18





	one mystery can teach you how to swim

**Author's Note:**

> ****THERE ARE SOME QUOTES FROM THE BOOK ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE IN THIS FIC!!!! since it’s an aridante au i felt like including some direct quotes to give a more aridante-y vibe****

Keith didn’t really like the pool.

First of all, the summer had begun. Another night passed as he fell asleep hoping the world would be different when he woke up. Another morning came and the world was still the same, and the sun was still very fucking bright.

Second, he had to wear a bright red swimsuit. He loved red, but wasn’t sure how he felt about swimsuits. He wasn’t sure how he felt about his body. He wasn’t sure how he felt about himself. It was only a few weeks ago that Adam had sit down with him and said that he was feeling that she was a little different and he had seen that every day that passed she was feeling more and more uncomfortable with her body, too self conscious.

Keith didn’t like she or her.

He never brought it up. It felt weird to bring this up now. I mean, he knew Adam would understand, always. “Life is about self discovery, Keith.”, he said once. “Did you know I had never thought that I was gay until I met your brother? Insane, right?” 

But that was when Shiro was home, and safe, and alive. Now they didn’t chat about life, or anything really. They always talked, but the words meant nothing. They were as empty as Keith’s life.

Keith was fifteen. Keith was bored. Keith was miserable. 

And Keith was a boy who freaking hated going to the pool. He didn’t even know how to swim! The sun was terrible, the swimsuit was annoying and, still, he had shown up there every single day since summer vacation began.

The only thing he had done until that day was managing to teach his body to stay afloat on water. He wasn’t really good at asking for help, and, even if he was, he would have to ask the swimming instructors (who called themselves lifeguards) for help. They’d teach him, of course, but because they saw him as a girl. And, well, he’d never in his entire life, ask one of those jerks for help. He’d never ask any guy for help, probably.

I mean, guys really made him uncomfortable. He didn’t know why, not exactly. He just didn’t belong, and he thought that it embarrassed the hell out of him that he was a guy. And it really depressed him that there was the distinct possibility that he was going to grow up and be like one of those assholes. 

Maybe, in a couple of years, he would be going through the same phase as the eighteen-year-old lifeguards. They were pretty much interested in girls that had suddenly sprouted breasts. They were obsessed with breasts (Keith was obsessed with his breasts but in a different, bad way). 

One thing was for sure: there was no way he was going to ask one of those idiots to help him out with his swimming. It was better to be alone and miserable. It was better to drown.

That’s when Keith heard a voice, kind of squeaky. 

— I can teach you how to swim.

Keith stood up in the water to look at the person who was talking to him, squinting into the sunlight. They were sitting down on the edge of the pool. Looking at him. Waiting.

And then they asked again.

— I can teach you how to swim, if you want.

Keith frowned. The person seemed to be about his age. They were thin, had light brown skin, blue eyes, thin eyebrows and short brown hair with very short bangs.

— The name’s Lance.— they spoke, as the boy in the pool stayed silent.— I use they/them pronouns. Also he/him, I guess.

Keith smiled at that.

— I’m Keith. He/him.

— Nice to meet you, Keith.— he liked the way they said “Nice to meet you, Keith.” Like they meant it.

And they did. 

The truth is, Lance had noticed Keith a few days ago, in the first day they came to the public pool with their friend, Plaxum (an excellent swimmer). “Who is that?” they’d asked. “You know Takashi Shirogane? That trans dude that went missing like three months ago and then they found out he died?” Lance nodded. They hated that story. Takashi Shirogane was a wonderful, bright young man who deserved only the best. And then he was murdered. “That’s his sibling. Doesn’t go out a lot, doesn’t have any friends, not that I know of. I don’t think they even know how to swim.” 

And he really didn’t.

— Okay,— he said.— teach me how to swim.

Less than a second later, Lance was diving into the pool with the brightest of smiles on their face.

Lance was a very precise teacher. They were a real swimmer, understood how a body functioned while it was in the water. Water was something they loved and respected. “I’m from Varadero beach, you know. I grew up there. I started to understand the sea. The water. It’s beauty and it’s dangers.” They talked about swimming as if it were a way of life. 

They agreed on meeting the next day for the next swimming lesson. And the next. And then the next. And the day after that. And the one after that. Keith ended up spending half of his summer by Lance’s side, swimming and learning and being surprised by that funny cuban who was an amazing swimmer, a great teacher and a promising friend.

They were funny and focused and fierce. And there wasn’t anything mean about them. Keith didn’t understand how you could live in a mean world and not have any of that meanness rub off on you. How could anyone live without some meanness?

Lance became one more mystery in a universe full of mysteries.

**Author's Note:**

> @ sherl: feliz aniversário atrasado !! eu te amo demais e você é um ótimo amigo, eu sei que isso é curtinho e ruim mas fé no pai


End file.
